Painful Memories
by TheEarthbendingRavenclaw
Summary: As Ellie begins to remember more of her early childhood, she begins to shut herself off from the others. There is one male mammoth, however, who knows something is bothering her and wants to get to the bottom of it. Takes place between film 2 and 3. Rated T for mentioned child abuse.
1. Chapter 1

Painful Memories:

It had baffled her at first. How she could have gone for so long without realizing she was, well, NOT a possum. Given the huge difference between a possum and a mammoth it was a bit hard to miss, but somehow see did.

Over the days that followed her discovery, however, she began to remember more and more about her life before Crash, Eddie, and their mother had found her, and it all began to make sense. What she found she wasn't happy with though. In fact, she really didn't know what to do with it except keep it to herself. There was no telling how the others would react especially…him.

But as days turned to weeks, and weeks turned to months, questions and insecurities gnawed at her. At first she tried to ignore them, and for a while it worked, but as time went on it only grew, driving her crazy to the point that he was starting to notice. She'd managed to play it off, but she knew she wouldn't be able to do that forever, and it terrified her.

This night, it was worse than ever. Though the memories she'd uncovered bothered her throughout the day, she had been able to escape in sleep. But that night, they'd invaded her dreams.

Gasping for breath she awakened from the nightmare, trembling. It only took a few moments for her to quiet down her breathing. Glancing about timidly, she sighed in relief at the revelation she hadn't woken anyone up, not even Manny, which was sleeping right beneath where she hung in the tree. As she stared at him, though, she could see that he was sound asleep, looking perfectly peaceful. The only sounds cutting through the night's silence was Sid's normal sleepy gibberish.

Her body still trembling slightly from the nightmare, Ellie carefully climbed down from her perch as quietly as possible, and slowly snuck off, leaving the dimming heat and light of the embers left behind by that night's fire behind. She wandered along until she found a clearing that was far enough off that none from the camp could hear her, and collapsed to the ground.

Images from this night, and that night all those years ago plagued her mind. Tears stung her eyes, as she squeezed them shut.

"Come on," she whispered to herself. "You gotta get a grip. You can't let them see you like this."

She shook her head, trying to shake the tears and nightmares away. "This shouldn't be hurting you that bad, anyway. It happened years ago."

She stood up and began to brush herself off. A twinge of fear shot through her. "But what if-no, stop it!"

She groaned, frustrated at herself. The thoughts that were all too familiar began to inch their way into her mind, in spite of herself. She stamped her foot angrily and put her trunk to her forehead. A sigh escaped her lips, as she shook her head. She was a wreck. At least no one-

"Ellie?" a deep, familiar voice came from behind her.

 _Oh, crap!_ Ellie whirled around and found Manny standing behind her, a concerned look on his face that only deepened when he saw her face.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he asked as he stepped closer to her.

"Nothing," Ellie tried to smile, but the look Manny gave her told her that trick wasn't going to work this time.

"Ellie, come on, just tell me what's going on."

"Nothing, I'm fine."

"No you're not, you've been crying."

"No I haven't."

"Ellie, your face is wet."

Ellie put her trunk to her face, and was greeted by a dampness she hadn't even noticed until then .

"Dang it," she murmured under her breath as she began to wipe the tears away.

Manny smirked slightly in victory, only to have Ellie shoot him a death glare. His concern quickly returned as he stepped even closer to her and setting his trunk on her shoulder.

"Seriously, though, what's going on," he asked.

"Nothing, I just had a nightmare, that's all," Ellie replied.

"Okay, what was it about?"

"Nothing."

"Well, I'd like to know what 'nothing' is since it's been bothering you for over a month now."

Ellie looked up at him in shock. "How-"

"Ellie, I'm your mate. You really think I'm not gonna notice when something's bothering you?"

Ellie hung her head in defeat as fear crept up in her. She'd been caught, and there was no getting out of it.

A gentle touch brushed across her face as Manny coaxed her to look up at him.

"Ellie?"

She slowly glanced up at him. He smiled gently at her.

"You can tell me anything, you know that?"

Ellie nodded slowly, though she was still afraid.

"So, what's going on?"

Ellie sighed as she shifted uncomfortably. She knew there was no getting out of this, but she still hesitated.

"Come on, Beautiful, you can tell me," Manny further encouraged her.

Ellie nodded, letting out a nervous sigh. "You know what I told you about what happened the night Crash and Eddie found me?"

Manny nodded, a concerned frown on his face. He wasn't sure what where this was going, but seeing how upset she was, he was sure he wasn't going to like it.

"Well, over the past few months I've been remembering more and more of that night, and what happened before that."

Manny nodded. "Okay, so like, you're birth family?"

Ellie flinched slightly. "Yeah, them."

Manny frowned. That wasn't the response he was expecting. "Okay…?"

"Well, it's still blurry, but I can remember a bit. I remember my father, my grandfather, and I guess my uncles, I'm not sure, and some cousins, boys. I remember all the males the most."

Manny stiffened. Yeah, he didn't like where this was going.

"There were other females, obviously. My grandmother, girl cousins, and my aunts, I know one of them had to be my mother, but I can't tell which one." She stopped, and bit her lip.

"Go on," Manny encouraged.

"The other females and girls they…didn't really do anything. They just hung out in the background and, did nothing. The younger girls would huddle together an play, but quietly. The grown women didn't do anything unless a man told them to do something.

"The males were an entirely different story. They were loud, rowdy, and rough. The boys, they did whatever they wanted, and the adults just let them, encouraged them even. But not the girls.

"But, you know me. I tried to rough house with the boys, and I'd get on their nerves, and when that happened, they'd push me away literally. And if that didn't work they…"

Ellie stopped for a moment, a shaky breath escaping her. Manny just waited on her to continue, even though he was scared of what he might hear.

"If that didn't work, they'd get one of the adult males to teach me a lesson. And the females, they did nothing."

She shuddered, hugging herself as he voice grew shakier.

"One day…I don't know what happened. I don't know what I did, but it must have been something bad, because my father started hitting me and…"

A small tear rolled down her cheek, she wiped it away, and continued, faster now, trying to get it all out as soon as possible.

"…and he wouldn't stop. The next thing I can remember is waking up and the adult females huddled around me, trying to patch me up as best as they could."

"I never wanted to hurt or bother anyone, but they still hurt me. I don't know what I did any of the times, and they never told them. Even if I didn't do anything, if I was just sitting there, they'd say things to me. They'd tell me I was a runt, or a weakling, or sickly, or that I was holding the group back, or that I was worthless. I was smaller than all the rest, I can remember that. I guess that's why they hated me."

"The night Crash and Eddie found me, we were travelling somewhere. I couldn't keep up, with them, they were going to fast. I kept asking them to slow down, but they didn't. Then my father got mad, came to the back and hit me. Hard enough to knock me over. My grandfather told him to not bother, if I couldn't keep up, I couldn't keep up, and that was my fault. The group would be better off anyways."

"I tried to keep up. I really did, but I couldn't. I was able to keep within sight of them, but I could never keep up with them. Then the storm hit, and it didn't take me long to get lost. And…well…you know how the rest of that story."

"I waited for a while. Hoping they'd come back to find me, but they never did. They just left me to die and they didn't care. And I don't even know what I did wrong. Annoyed them I guess? I know I was small, but…"

Her voice trailed off, tears were rolling heavily down her cheeks. Silence followed. They just stood there, his trunk still resting on her shoulder. Ellie timidly looked up at Manny.

He wasn't even looking at her. He was glancing off to the side, a look of slight bewilderment on his face. But the expression that dominated the majority of his face, and possessed his eyes could only be described as pure, unbridled rage.

Ellie's breath caught in her throat, as she fearfully took a step back. She had never, NEVER seen Manny that angry before.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, fear gripping her heart.

Manny turned to her, a confused look on his face, his eyes still filled with rage.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what I'm doing wrong, I didn't think I-"

The rage melted into a look of horror and sympathy. He lunged towards her. Ellie closed her eyes, waiting for the impact, but it never came. Manny snatched her to his chest, holding her as tightly as he could without hurting her.

A sob escaped her as confusion and slight relief overwhelmed her.

"I'm not mad you," Manny assured her as he stroked her back and neck. "I'm furious with them. You did nothing wrong. You were just being a kid. They-"

From where she was snuggled against his chest under his chin, she could hear him take in an angry breath.

"I can think of quite a few things to say about them, but you're having a hard night, so I'm not going to make you mad."

Ellie chuckled softly and she snuggled closer against him. Manny nuzzled his face into her neck, and continued to rub her back. A small, happy sigh escaped her. The tension she'd been carrying the whole night began to slowly leave her. Tears rolled down her cheeks, taking the fear and anxiety that had plagued her for months with them. For the first time in a while she felt safe and accepted.

Manny let go of her, and pulled back, much to her disappointment. She was quickly satisfied, though, when he leaned his forehead against her, and intertwined his trunk with hers.

"I love you," he whispered. "And I would never hurt you. You know that right?"

Ellie nodded, closing her eyes and just enjoying their closeness. They pulled apart after a few moments, and Manny began wiping her tears away.

"Are you okay now?" he asked.

Ellie shrugged. "I guess."

"Why didn't you tell me about this earlier?"

Ellie hung her head, ashamed. "I don't know. I just didn't know what would happen if I did. I thought… I thought something would change between us if I did, or that you'd think less of me."

"Why would I do that?" Manny asked. "You did nothing wrong, and you're still the same Ellie I fell in love with."

Ellie shrugged again. "I guess I thought…that I must have done something wrong to deserve th-"

"Don't say that," Manny's voice was suddenly firm and urgent, and it caught Ellie off guard.

"Don't say that. You DIDN'T deserve that. Nobody does. They were sick to do that."

Ellie bit her bottom lip, feeling a bit embarrassed, and nodded.

Manny's face softened and he pulled her towards him again. "Even if you had theoretically done something wrong, do you think that would change the way I feel about you or treat you?"

Ellie smiled softly and shook her head.

"I love you," Manny continued. "No matter what. I would never even dream of doing that to you. And if anyone else tries to, I'll kill them."

Ellie chuckled softly. "Sure you will."

"Yeah, I will. I'll get Diego to help me. He's a predator, he knows how to hide a body."

"Yeah, I do."

Manny and Ellie turned to find said tiger coming out of the brush, followed by Crash, Eddie.

Manny sighed in slight annoyance. "Right on cue."

"So who are we whacking?" Crash asked as he and Eddie began to punch their palms.

"No one," Manny rolled his eyes.

"But you said-"

"Don't listen to what I say. I'm sarcastic. You should have figured that out-Oh, who am I kidding. I'm talking to the two of you."

"What are you guys doing here?" Ellie asked, snickering at her mate's annoyance.

"Sid slept walked into the fire and woke us up with his screaming," Diego explained. "And when we saw the two of you were gone we decided to look for you. So, everything okay?"

"Yeah, we're fine," Manny answered before turning to Ellie. "Right?"

It was a genuine question. Ellie smiled appreciatively at him as she answered. "Yeah, we're okay."

"But should we listen to him?" Eddie asked.

"He did just tell us not to listen to him."

"So theoretically we shouldn't believe him now."

"But wait, does that mean we shouldn't have listened to him we he said not to listen to him?"

Manny slapped his trunk to his face in annoyance. "Why me?"

Ellie laughed at the entire scene. "Seriously, we're fine guys."

"Are you sure?" Crash raised an eyebrow suspiciously.

"Alright, come on you miscreants," Diego sighed as he snatched the up by their tails and began to walk-off.

"We're not miscreants, we're-"

"-The awesome possum duo of Crash and Eddie. I've heard." As Diego began to walk off, Sid limped into the clearing, his foot smoking from his misstep with the fire.

"Sid, come on, nothing to see here," Diego called as he disappeared into the brush.

"Wait, what? But I just-! Aw, man!" Sid hung his head and began limping off.

Ellie shook her head in dismay at their comrades antics as she chuckled and leaned her head on Manny's shoulder.

"You gonna be okay, now?" Manny asked.

Ellie nodded. "Yeah, I'll be fine. Thank you."

Manny smiled at her and nuzzled his face against hers again. "Just doing my job."


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: So after some thought and deliberation, I decided to extend this into a flu story. Hope you enjoy!**

"Storm! Storm! Storm!" a bird screeched as it flew over a crowd gathered next to the river, the herd included. "There a giant storm coming from the east! Will be here in about four days. You need to prepare and take shelter, or go somewhere that does!"

"We have a series of underground tunnels here," Manny called back. "There's plenty of room for us and any communities who don't have shelter."

"If I find any I'll send them your way," the bird answered as it flew off. The minute he was gone everyone who was not in the herd began panicking.

"It's a giant snow storm!"

"We're going to freeze to death!"

"We're going to die!"

"No we're not," Manny called over all the screeching. "Calm down. Stop it. Be quiet. SHUT UP!"

Everyone suddenly fell quiet.

"Thank you," he rolled his eyes as he continued. "We need to get food and fire wood into the tunnels, so let's-"

Everyone but the herd sped off to collect the listed things.

"Um…okay, moving on," he turned to his friends and mate, and shrugged. "Let's go."

Everyone nodded and went off in the opposite way everyone else had to avoid any pestering crowds. Ellie hung out in the back as she thought things over. It had been about two weeks since she had told Manny about her birth family. She hadn't told anyone else about it and she was wondering if she should, but she didn't want to, and really, what would that do? Was there any real reason to tell them?

She pushed her thoughts aside for the time being as she tried to help Manny pull up sickly trees or dead trees for fire wood. She pulled up one and set aside, and then tugged on another, but it didn't budge. She huffed a sigh of annoyance and tugged again. It moved maybe half a centimeter.

"Grab it from lower down," Manny told her from her side and pulled up another tree. Ellie scooted her trunk lower down and tugged again. It budged slightly, but still didn't come up all the way.

"Here," Manny stood beside her and guided her trunk down to near the roots and then helped her pull it out.

"Thanks," she sighed. As she tossed it aside, Manny pulled the fur from her topnotch out of her face, and ran his trunk along her cheekbone underneath her eye.

"Didn't sleep last night?" he asked.

Ellie blushed as she moved her fur back in place to try and hide the bags under her eyes.

"Not well," she answered pulling out another tree in two tugs and tossing it aside.

"You need to take a nap?" Manny asked, watching her work with concern.

She shook her head. "I'm fine."

"You sure?"

"Yeah," Ellie jerked on another tree, only to have it slip out of her trunk, causing it to slap her in her face. Ellie groaned as she rubbed the sore spot. Manny chuckled quietly at her and pulled the tree up for her. She frowned in frustrations, sighing. She was still trying to figure out how to be a mammoth, and was currently not doing a good job at it. Though he easily got aggravated with everyone else, Manny was a very patient teacher around her, and that helped.

"You're exhausted," he told her as she continued to grumble at her apparent incompetence. "Go lie down for a few minutes, I'll take care of this."

Ellie shook her head. "There's a storm coming, we need all the help we can get."

Manny sighed. "Just don't over do it."

"I won't," Ellie yanked up another tree with a little too much force and knocked herself over.

Manny snickered slightly as he helped her up. "For some odd reason I don't believe you."

 **IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII**

Later that day, groups from other areas began pouring in seeking shelter. Several children were running about, playing and giggling. Ellie could see them all from where she was perched atop a tree, gathering fruits from the top branches. There were a group of kids who had climbed on Manny's back and were taking turns sliding down his trunk. Though it was getting in the way of collecting all the fruits Ellie was dropping down, he didn't seem to mind. In fact, though she couldn't quite here what he was saying, he was seemed to be egging them on.

Ellie chuckled. Yeah he could get grumpy and impatient at times, he was great with kids. Ellie watched him for a little while, taking a break from her work. She'd considered asking him many times to have a baby, but given what had happened to his first family she'd never brought it up, afraid the wounds might still be too fresh.

She soon finished scouring her current tree she began climbing down.

"Hey, another group's coming!" someone called.

Ellie stopped her descent to peak out from under the branches. There was a large group of mammoths, about 30 of them. Ellie stepped out to the edge of the branches to get a closer look. She still hadn't seen too many mammoths since she'd discovered she herself was one, and she was curious. As they grew closer, however, chills began to run up and down her whole body. The leader of the group was an elderly male with white streaking through his fur. Despite his old age, however, he looked horribly familiar.

Behind him was another male, middle age, with piercing green eyes and lighter fur with a stern gaze, a gaze that had haunted her nightmares for weeks. Behind him were the other two males that she'd tried to push from her memory for years. She didn't even look to see who all was behind them. She didn't do anything actually, she just froze, tensed, and thus fell from her tree. The jolt of collision snapped her out of her trance, only causing her heart rate to skyrocket. She turned and looked behind her. The group was still coming, but they didn't seem to notice her. She jumped to her feet and started to take off, but she collided with something.

"Whoa, Ellie, what's wrong? Are you hurt? Why'd you fall?" Manny asked. "What happened back there?"

"I slipped," Ellie answered quickly as she tried to run off again, but Manny caught her by the trunk.

"Whoa, what else is going on?"

"Nothing. I'm fine, just let me go," Ellie begged glancing over to see the group growing closer, causing her throat to tighten. Manny didn't believe her for a moment but let go of her trunk, only to cup her face and cradle the back of her head when she let out a small whimper of fear.

"Ellie, you're shaking, what on earth is happening?"

"Must have just bumped my head, I'll go sit own, just let me go."

"I'm not holding you back. In fact you're the one squeezing the life out of my shoulder."

Ellie looked down and saw what he had said was true.

"Hey," a voice called out. It was cracking with age but the firmness and pride in it was all too familiar to Ellie, and caused her to shudder. Manny noticed and whirled around to see where the offending voice was coming from.

"We heard there was shelter here," the same old voice called out. Manny saw a herd of mammoths, led by the eldest male, probably the father, father-in-law and grandfather to all the others. Nothing unusual, until he noticed the male standing behind the alpha. He looked to be middle age, late 40's to mid 50's, and he had piercing green eyes. His fur was of a lighter shade with an almost golden tint to it. Standing slightly behind him was a woman, around the same age, with a petite build (or petite for a mammoth) and a heart shaped face. Manny compared the features of the two middle aged mammoths and then looked back and Ellie, and it suddenly clicked.

"That's not your birth family is it?"

Ellie nodded, trembling.

Manny shot a quick glare to the group before slipping his trunk around her shoulders. "Okay, let's ge-"

"You. Young man," the elder mammoth called pointing to Manny. Ellie let out another whimper. _Please don't let them recognize me! Please don't let them recognize me!"_

Manny stopped and turned to look at the group, keeping his side to them and simultaneously guiding Ellie to hide behind him.

"Is it true there's shelter here?"

Manny shrugged. "I'm not sure how much room we have left, you might want to go look somewhere else."

The elder mammoth looked about. "Doesn't look like you have too many folks here, at least not any of notable size. I think we can squeeze in."

"Better safe than sorry. You might want to move on."

"I don't think that-"

"Hey!"

Ellie jumped as a voice came from behind her. A younger male mammoth of about her age had snuck up behind her and Manny and was hovering over her.

"Don't I know you?" he asked as he narrowed his green eyes, same as the middle aged male and Ellie. Ellie all but jumped out of skin, but recovered as quickly as possible and shook her head violently.

"No. No. I don't think so," She began backing up, and inevitably backed into Manny, who simply grabbed her and held her close to him.

"Sure about that?" the other male asked as he grabbed her by the chin and turned her to look up at him.

"Hey!" Manny slapped the other male's trunk away, but it was too late. The young male took a step back, and his mouth curled up into a wicked smiled.

"Well, I be darned!"

"Miles, what are you doing?" the elder mammoth asked in an annoyed voice.

"Hey guys, you ain't gonna believe, it's little Eliza!"

Gasps and mutter began to arise from the group. Ellie let another whimper escape her as flashbacks flew in front of her eyes. An older, buff boy, pushing her about and blackening her eyes to the laughter and cheers from the adult males. The young man standing before her now, or Miles, got right up into her face and grinned.

"Yeah, will wonders never cease," he whispered. Manny jerked her to his other side, placing himself in between her and Miles.

"Hey, you mind?" he asked.

"Chill, dude, we go way back, don't we 'Liza?" Miles called as Ellie clung to Manny as she shook.

"Well, well, well," she turned and found the elder male staring at you. "You are Eliza, aren't you? I thought for sure you were dead. Guess she was tougher than you thought, Asher," he turned to the middle aged male who had begun to draw closer.

"She still looks a bit puny, though," the elder male continued, and shrugged. "I guess time can't fix everything."

"She looks good though," another middle aged male, this one with silver eyes, said as he approached. "Makin' all the boy's heads turn, aren't yah sweetheart?"

Ellie cringed at the creepy comment and began to back away from the three older men, Manny struggling to keep himself between her, the three elders, and the one young adult who were closing in.

"What's wrong?" the second middle aged male asked. "Dontcha remember your uncle Sawyer? Bet you remember your old man though. Didn't think she'd grow up to be a looker, did yah, Asher?"

Sawyer reached to grab Ellie and pull her into the center of the circle that had formed from the five males. Manny quickly grabbed his trunk before it could touch her, and threw Sawyer back.

"Whoa, whoa, man, just trying to say 'hi' to the little lady," Sawyer said in an assuring tone as he straightened himself. "No need to be antsy."

"You can say hi while keeping your trunk to yourself," Manny answered.

"Who exactly do you think you are?" Asher finally spoke up. "We're this young woman's family."

"So am I," Manny said, sizing the older male up.

"Oh, are you?" Asher didn't look impressed. "Well, maybe that's so, but, you see, I'm her father-"

"And I'm her mate," Manny cut him off. "Have been for over a year now."

"Oh, ho, ho, done got yourself a man, haven't yah?" Sawyer chuckled. "Good, job, honey, good j-"

Sawyer reached for her again, and this time Manny didn't just throw him back, but knocked him off his feet.

"Hey, you got a hearing problem old man? I said don't touch her!"

"Whoa, dude, enough with this possessive thing. We just want to catch up with our long lost family member."

"Don't play coy with me," Manny warned.

"Whatever do you mean?" the elder asked, with a feigned look of surprise.

"I mean I know how you 'long lost' family member became 'long lost.'"

"Oh, I see," the elder said. "Well, I'm not sure what Eliza told you, but she was very young and-"

"Ellie."

Ellie finally gained the courage to step out from behind Manny. Though all she wanted to do on the inside was run, but she stood firm, head held high.

"My name is Ellie. And I wasn't that young."

"Ellie, of course," the elder gave a seemingly kind smile. "I'd almost forgotten about that little nick name. Now, my sweet-"

He took two steps towards her, causing her to creep back. Manny walked up to her side and set his trunk protectively in front of her.

"What? Surely you're not scared of you're old Papaw, are you?"

"You can't play coy with me either," Ellie said, hoping her voice didn't betray her and quiver.

The elder's smile disappeared, and a pondering gaze replaced it. "Hm. Well, it's been several years. I suppose it will take some time to get things back together. But you should at least say hello to Asher, he is your father after all."

Ellie looked up at the Asher, meeting a set of eyes that were identical to hers in color, and shook her head. "I'm not in the mood."

" 'Liza, please," Asher took two steps closer to her. Ellie crept back again, and Manny stepped in between the two of them.

"She said 'no,'" he warned Asher.

"This doesn't concern you, young man-"

"She's my mate, so, yeah, actually it does concern me."

"And she's my daughter. My daughter I haven't seen in over twenty years-"

"Well, maybe you should have thought about that before you left her to die in a snow storm," Manny all but growled as he stepped menacingly towards Asher. Asher sized him up. He was younger than him, and reasonably taller. He couldn't win against him in a fight…not now…not alone.

"You don't honestly think that was on purpose, do you?" Sawyer asked.

"I don't think, I know, because she told me," Manny answered. "She told me how you-" he pointed his trunk right in Asher's face. "Slapped her across the face and then told her either keep up or get lost, and the when the blizzard hit, you didn't even look back. Come to think of it, maybe I should leave the lot of you to brave this coming storm, see how you like a taste of your own medicine."

"You can't," the elder said calmly.

"Why the heck not?" Manny challenged.

The elder had an almost mocking look in his eyes as he answered "we have children with us."

Manny and Ellie turned and looked to find what the elder said was true. About ten children were peaking out from behind the remaining adults, watching the action go on. Manny frowned as he stamped his foot. Ellie's breath caught in her throat. She turned and looked at her mate with a sad, scared expression and shook her head. Despite what danger she might be in she couldn't ask for innocent children's lives to be put at risk. Not when they could help.

"It's not worth it," she whispered. Manny looked upset, but he didn't disagree, he gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze as he turned back to the five males.

"Fine. You can stay until the storm is passed to keep those kids safe. But after it's passed, you're gone! And if I hear of any of you harming Ellie, I swear-"

"You won't even give us a chance?" Sawyer asked. "Well, honey, you were so little, and your imagination was so vivid. This is just a trick of your young wild mind. Besides even if it did happen, maybe we've changed. At the very least, we're your kind, you owe us-"

"She doesn't owe you a thing," Manny cut him off and took Ellie's trunk. "Let's go," he told her and he guided her off.

"You'll come around, old pal," Miles called. "I know you will, and I'll be waiting for when you do."

As they walked off, a middle aged female mammoth stepped out of the crowd and stared at Ellie. Ellie gasped as she stared back. The female looked like an older, darker, blue eyed version of her. The female reached her trunk out towards Ellie as tears formed in her eyes. Asher stepped in front of her, and she cowered back into the crowd. Asher gave Manny another sizing up which he returned. After a few seconds Asher sauntered off to where all the other males had been watching. The middle-aged female gave him a small, shy smile, similar to the ones Ellie would give him before she thanked him for some favor. Manny didn't know why, but he got the feeling that, despite what the others might have been, this woman wasn't a threat. He gave her a small nod of acknowledgement, and then guided Ellie away from the crowd.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three:

Ellie collapsed under a tree and covered her face with her trunk. This had to be a dream. A nightmare. They couldn't have come back. They did not just waltz back into life. They just…couldn't have. Images of beatings, shouting, slapping, black-outs flashed through her mind, as she shook her head, trying to wrap her mind around what had just happened.

A gentle touch against her face broke her out of her trance. She looked up to find Manny hovering over her, concern riddled all over his face.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

Ellie shook her head slowly. "I don't know."

"Hey, what's going on?"

The couple turned to find Diego and Sid walking towards them.

"You alright?" he asked Ellie.

She slowly shook her head.

"Did you fall and hit your head?" Sid asked. "I did that onshe."

"More than once," Diego mumbled under his breath.

Ellie shook her head again. "No, it's not that."

"What's going on?" Crash and Eddie hooped down from the trees, one landing on each of Ellie's tusks.

"You okay, sis?" Eddie asked.

Ellie shook her head again.

"What's wrong?"

Ellie bit her lip. She looked up at Manny for help. He set his trunk on her shoulder.

"Want me to tell them?"

She shook her head, took in a deep breath, and began explaining. "My birth family came back."

Silence followed.

"You mean our mom didn't have you?" Eddie asked. "You're adopted!? Why didn't anyone tell us!?"

"I know!" Crash exclaimed. "I feel cheated."

"How could we have been so blind?"

"Back on topic," Diego cut in. "Is this good or bad?"

"Bad," Ellie continued explaining everything that she could remember about the abuse and how she ended up lost in the snow storm that night. She didn't look at anyone as she explained. She was afraid she'd break down if she did so. She just stared at the ground the squeezed her eyes shut after she'd finished. Waiting for a response.

She didn't have to wait long.

"Alright!" Diego shouted as he jumped to his feet. "Where are they?"

"Yeah!" Crash jumped onto Diego's back, Eddie close behind. "Let's get 'em!"

"We'll make them wish they'd never been born!" Eddie agreed.

"I'd like to see that," Manny muttered. "And we can't turn them away."

"Why not?" Crash demanded to know.

"They have children," Ellie answered. "They could die or…or end up like me if we did."

Diego pressed his mouth into a thin line behind his giant teeth. "I see," he nodded. "So what are we doing?"

"Letting them stay until after the storm," Ellie answered.

"And after that?"

She shrugged.

"After that they're leaving," Manny replied for her.

"You really think they'll listen to you?" Ellie asked.

"They won't have a choice."

"Oh…I sense a fight coming!" Sid cheered. "I'll get the weapons!"

"For who? Better not be you," Manny snorted. "The only thing you'll hurt is yourself."

So, are we going for kill or maim?" Diego asked. "'Cuz I'm good either way."

"Guys!" Ellie scolded.

"What?" Diego asked. "We'd let them start it."

"I don't want anyone to start it," Ellie cried. "I don't want a fight! I don't want trouble, I just…I just want them to go away!"

"They will," Manny assured her as he bent down to her level and slipped her trunk into his. "As soon as this storm's gone, they'll be out of here."

"How do you know?" Ellie asked. "There more of them than us, we can't make them go."

"Oh, contraire, madomoushille," Sid patted her tusk. "They may have numbers, but we have brains."

"Compared to who? A dinosaur?" Diego sniffed.

"Actually, there is evidence that dinosaurs may have been more intelligent then us."

"No, they were just smarter than you."

"That's what I just shaid."

"No its not."

"It'sh not."

"No."

"Wait, what'd you say?"

"Dinosaurs were smarter than you."

"That'sh what I shaid!"

"No, you shaid dinosaurs were smarter than us."

"That'sh what you shaid."

"No, it's not. I said they were smarter than you."

"Shame ash I shaid!"

"Guys!" Manny shouted. "Not helping!"

"Oh, right," Sid exclaimed. "What were we talking about again?"

Manny began to whirl around, but Diego stopped him.

"Nope, I got it," Diego whacked Sid over the head.

"Ouch! Hey!"

"Now that that's done," Diego continued. "Let's just try and focus on getting through this storm. Then we'll worry about getting rid of them."

"You really hit me hard that time," Sid whined as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Shut up, this isn't your pity party," Diego scolded.

"Then who'sh ish it?"

"No one's, we're dealing with an actual issue. Now shut up."

"What's the issue?"

"And, that's two," Diego whacked him on the head again.

"Ouch!"

"Sh!" Crash and Eddie hissed. "Someone's coming."

Everyone tensed up as they turned to where the possums were pointing. Ellie felt a shudder go through her body as she turned in fear. Both Many and Diego took up protective stances in front of her. Sid raced off for only a minute, then came back with a pile of sticks in his arms. Diego rolled his eyes at him.

"What are you doing?"

"Theshe are my weaponsh."

"How are those weapons?"

"I throw them at the other guy," Sid gave Diego a look of disgust. "Duh!"

"Great, except for one problem."

"What?"

"You can't throw."

Sid hung his head. "Oh…right."

"Shut up!" Manny hissed at them.

From out of the trees, the blue-eyed, middle-aged female mammoth from before stepped out. She jumped at the sight that met her, and took a step back.

"Oh, my," she gasped. "Um…hi…?"

"She one of them?" Diego asked.

"Yeah, but hang on a sec," Manny answered as he took a few steps towards the older woman. "Yes?"

"You…" she hung her head shyly, almost afraid. "You're Eliza's mate, aren't you?"

"Yeah."

"Can I…talk to her?"

Manny stared at her for a moment as he pondered this. She still didn't seem to be a threat to him. Still, he didn't want to take too many chances. He looked behind him to find Ellie watching the two of them with timid curiosity. He could see she wasn't as afraid of this one as she was the others.

"Please?" the older woman asked again in a voice that was little more than a whisper.

"That's up to her," Manny answered before turning and motioning for Ellie to come to him. She slowly approached his side, hiding slightly behind him as she sized the woman up.

The older woman's eyes lit up again at the sight of her, a small smile playing on her lips.

"She wants to talk to you," Manny explained.

Ellie nodded. "Okay."

She stepped closer to the older woman, and Manny, feeling that for the moment she was safe, took a few steps back.

The older woman just stared at her, tears welling in her eyes as she slowly reached out a touched her face.

"You're my mother, aren't you?" Ellie asked after a few moments of silence.

The older woman nodded a smile playing on her lips.

Ellie didn't return the smile, she just stood there, unsure of what to do or say. This was her mom, the only one she really had no memory of. Still, though, she felt guilty. Guilty that as this woman shed tears over her and stared at her like she was some lost treasure, she felt…

…nothing. Nothing except for a small ounce of bitter curiosity.

Her mother wiped a tear off her own face. "You're so grown up," she cried. "And so…beautiful!"

Ellie gave a small smile of thanks at the comment, but still didn't know what to say.

"What's wrong?" her mother asked, suddenly concerned. "You're not…afraid of me, are you?"

Ellie shook her head. "No…not you."

"Then what's wrong?"

Ellie hesitated for a while. Should she ask? It was kind of a…rude question to ask. But she had to know. And after so long, didn't she have a right to know.

"Why didn't you stop them?"

"What?" her mother looked confused.

"That night they left me to die in that storm," Ellie explained. "Why didn't you stop them?"

Her mother hung her head, a look of shame crossing her face. "Oh…I…"

"Ouch!" Diego rocked uncomfortable from where he and the other three guys watched, still under the tree.

"…I couldn't…" she finally answered.

"Why not?" Ellie asked.

"I…if I'd…They wouldn't…I just couldn't. They wouldn't let me. I couldn't."

Ellie hung her head. That was no answer, but it was probably the best she'd ever get.

"Rowena!"

Ellie jumped at the familiar, booming voice, and began to back away. Her mother also tensed at the voice, a terrified look overtaking her face. Manny walked up to Ellie's side, and set his trunk in front of her as Asher came plowing through the woods. He stopped at the sight, an unreadable look on his face.

"Oh," was all he said, the he turned to his mate. "Rowena, what are you doing?"

"I just…wanted to talk to her…" Rowena answered in a hushed, shaky voice.

Asher looked up at Ellie, then glanced at Manny, before answering his mate. "I don't mind that, just tell me where you're going."

Rowena nodded timidly.

"Now, go on. I need to talk to our daughter alone."

Rowena nodded again, giving Ellie a sad, sorrowful glance as she started off. Seeing his protective stance, she gave Manny another thankful smile, before taking off. Asher waited a few moments, staring at the younger couple for a while, before finally letting out an annoyed sigh, and saying:

"I said I needed to talk to her alone."

"Oh, I heard you. I'm just ignoring you," Manny answered.

"Well, isn't that rude?" Asher snapped. "I'm not going to hurt her, don't worry. I just want to have a little chat."

"I'm not sure that's what she wants," Manny replied.

"Not what she wants, or not what you want?"

Manny turned to Ellie and gave her a look that asked, "do you?"

Ellie began to pull Manny away, and gave Asher a small glance. "Give us a minute," she asked him as she and Manny began to slip off.

"Of course," Asher agreed.

They walked back to the tree where the rest of the herd was waiting.

"What's he say? What's he say?" Crash begged to know.

"I don't know, he wants to talk to me alone," Ellie answered.

"You don't have to do that," Manny told her. "I'm not going to let you do that. After all this guy's done to you in the past? Uh-uh."

"I know, I know, but…"

A silence fell as Ellie tried to find words for what was going on in her head.

"But what?" Manny asked after a few minutes.

"I want answers," Ellie replied. "I want to know why. And I want him to know that…That I'm not afraid of him."

"But you are," Sid said.

"I know I am, but I don't want him to know that."

"But he does."

"I know, I just. I want him to know that just because I'm sacred of him…no, that's not…I don't…I want him…I don't what I want," she finally admitted. "But I need to talk to him. I don't know why, I just do."

"Fair enough, but I'm not leaving you alone with him," Manny stated.

"I don't want you to. Just…stay close enough you can see us, but far enough away that you can't hear us. Maybe that will be good enough for him."

Manny nodded. "Okay."

"The rest of you should probably go," she said to the others.

"Aw, but I don't wanna," Sid whined.

"Come on," Diego grabbed him by the tail in his mouth and dragged him off, Crash and Eddie riding on his back. Once they were gone, Ellie turned back to Manny.

"Stay close?"

"You got it."

Ellie walked back towards Asher, leaving him at the tree, where he could still keep an eye on them.

"So," she said when she reached him, mustering all her strength to not show how afraid she was. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Um, isn't he going to leave?" Asher motioned towards Manny.

"No," Ellie answered. "He doesn't trust you, and neither do I. But he has agreed not to come any closer. Unless you give him a reason to."

"I see," Asher's eyes narrowed, unimpressed. "I'm guessing this is the best I'm going to get?"

"Yup."

He sighed. "Very well then."

"Why'd you do it?"

"Do what?"

"Leave me to die."

"Still hung up on that, are you?" Asher sighed. "Well, let me start with, I didn't leave you to die. What happened to you was an accident."

"An accident?"

"Yes, you see, we didn't know a storm was coming. What was supposed to happen was that you were going to learn to keep up and keep moving. Not stopping so often and slowing the group down, even if it meant you lagged behind a little bit, which you did. We were working on your endurance, not your speed. Then out of nowhere that storm hit and we lost you."

Ellie wasn't impressed. "So you still forced me to walk until I was exhausted and let me fall behind."

"Yes, it was to teach you a lesson-"

"On endurance?"

"Yes-"

"I was a toddler!"

"You had to learn at some point."

"You honestly didn't think that there was a chance a snow storm could have hit?"

"Well, of course there was a chance, there's always a chance, but we had to take it."

"Had to take it? My life was at stake!"

"We raised all our children the same, you were the only one we lost."

"And that didn't make you stop and think your methods might have been a little messed up?"

"It was only one time out of a dozens," Asher shrugged. "Our odds of success are still high."

Ellie winced slightly at that last comment. She hung her head and nodded sadly. "So that's it. I'm just on in a dozen."

Asher narrowed his eyes and shook his head. "Still thin skinned, I see. Well, I suppose he wants you to stay that way." He gestured to Manny.

"What are you talking about?" Ellie asked.

"Well, let's see. He wouldn't let you speak when we first met, he rushed you away before we could talk to you, your mother shows up and he's two steps behind you, and you had to consult him before you could talk to me. Seems a bit possessive to me."

Ellie shook her head. "No, he is not possessive over me. He's protective."

"Is that what he calls it?" Asher sniffed.

"You beat me to the point of unconsciousness when I was a tiny child at least once-"

Asher turned to her with a look of shock on his face.

"Oh, thought I'd forgotten about that?" Ellie asked. "Well I didn't. And that wasn't the only time you abused me. So, yeah, he doesn't want me alone with you because what's to stop you from doing it again?"

"So, you're too weak to fend for yourself, is that what he's telling you?"

"No!" Ellie shouted.

"Well, he doesn't trust you enough to hold you own to leave you alone, does he?"

"It's…" Ellie hesitated as she tried to come up with a comeback. "…it's not me he doesn't trust."

"Is it not?"

Ellie narrowed her eyes at Asher. "You trying to make me think you care? Is that what this is?"

"I do care about you, Eliza-"

"Ellie!"

"Whatever, look," Asher took a step towards her. Her immediate reaction was to cower back, but she stood still, trying to look brave. "I don't know what he's planted in your mind, but I didn't beat you. I disciplined you, yes, but never abused you. He, however, won't even let us have a conversation alone."

"Because he wants to protect me."

"Protect you, or control you?"

Ellie narrowed her eyes at him.

"Tell me, Eliza, Ellie, whatever your name is. You've been with this man for a little more than a year. I had you for three. In that time, what has he done for you that I, as your father couldn't? Feed you? Provide shelter for you? Protect you? I did all those things for you, and I let you go out and explore and talk to others, which he clearly wont'-"

"He will when you're not around."

"I'm not sure I believe that, and you shouldn't either. Now tell me, what has he done that I haven't or couldn't?"

"Well, let's see, you left me to die in a snow storm-"

"I didn't-"

"He dove headlong into a flood to save my life," Ellie cut him off before he could finish. "And he didn't tell me anything about what happened between us. I told him what happened. He never put ideas into my mind."

"Are you su-"

"Positive."

Asher narrowed his eyes at her.

"Is there anything else you'd like to talk about?" Ellie asked when he didn't say anything.

Asher just stared at her.

"Alright, I'll be going now," she turned to walk off.

"You might be in denial now," Asher called as she left. "But I'll make you see things my way soon."

"No you won't," Ellie answered. "I'm not a little girl anymore. I can think and fight for myself."

"Can you?" Asher challenged, and Ellie was taken back. Was that a threat? Asher smiled evilly at her frightened response and walked off. Ellie watched him go, finally allowing herself to tremble. What did he want? What was his game?

She felt a gentle touch on her shoulder. "Are you okay?" Manny asked.

"I think so," Ellie responded.

"What did he want?"

Ellie shook her head. "To make me think you're the abuser instead of him."

"Why?"

"I don't know."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four:

The moon hung high in the sky as everyone stopped their work for the night. If everything kept at its current pace they'd be more than ready for when the storm hit. That wasn't what Ellie was worried about as she headed back to the campsite.

They passed by them on the way home. The men and boys all gathered around the fire in a rowdy and laughing group, while the women and girls hung out in the back. Same as she remembered. They'd spotted her, and Sawyer called out to her.

"Hey, 'Liza!"

She ignored them and kept walking.

"Aw, c'mon. Why don't you come and sit a while?"

She didn't answer, she just kept walking, everyone else following along behind her. Manny set his trunk on her back as he shot glares to the group. Diego trailed a little further behind, so he could let out a roar towards the group after they'd past. The entire group jumped and screamed in fear at the growling, and Diego sauntered off, proud of himself.

Once they reached their normal spot, Side started a fire, setting himself a flame as usual.

"Ow! Ow! Ow!"

Crash and Eddie threw snowballs at him to put the flame out. After a few tosses, the flames went out.

"Thanksh guysh, but…" Sid opened up one of the snowballs. "Rocksh!? Was that needed?"

"No, but it's fun," Crash answered.

Even from the safe distance they were at, she could still hear the men laughing a carrying on. She rubbed the back of her neck, both because of the crick that the work that day had caused, and nerves. Everyone else settled down for the night and began to go asleep. Sid, as usual, passed out immediately and began muttering in his sleep. Ellie still stayed put, thinking everything over.

All things considered, it could have gone worse. None have them have tried to hurt her yet. Unless you counted them trying to pull her in the center of the circle during the initial meet up. Maybe she shouldn't worry so much. Maybe nothing would happen. Maybe they'd stay and then go just like she wanted. Still…

She sighed, and walked over to her tree to sleep, but stopped. She didn't want to be alone. She didn't feel like hanging upside down like she normally did, not while they were around. That would make her more exposed, more vulnerable. Maybe it was silly. It was silly. She hesitated, thinking her decision over. Looking about her, she could see that everyone else was asleep, except for Manny. She just now noticed that he was still awake, watching her carefully. Ellie sighed as she walked towards him.

"You okay?" Manny asked as he took her trunk in his.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just…" she hung her head, a little embarrassed.

"What?"

"Can I stay down here with you tonight?" she asked quietly. "If you don't want to, I understand, I just-"

"You really think I'm going to turn down a chance to hold my mate?" Manny asked, a smile on his face as he patted the ground next to him.

She smiled as she settled down next to him. Because of her upbringing as a possum, it was hard for her to comfortable on the ground, unless she leaned against Manny, which was why she didn't do it often, because it couldn't have been comfortable for him. He never complained, though, and slipped his trunk around her as he held her close. She snuggled up against him, closing her eyes and letting herself relax. He set his head on top of hers and they fell asleep.

 **IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII**

Manny awoke to the feeling of something constricting around his shoulder. He blinked to ride himself of the sleepy daze and became aware of someone whimpering next to him. He finally snapped himself out of the sleepy haze and turned to find Ellie curled up in a ball next to him, still asleep, but shaking, whimpering, and clutching onto him for dear life. He reached out and cupped her face, gently stroking her cheek to see if she'd wake.

"Ellie?"

She didn't, but she seemed to calm down a bit. Noticing this, he drew her closer to him, and began to whisper to her, seeing if he could calm her without actually waking her up. She needed rest.

"It's okay," he told her. "It's just a nightmare, you're safe."

She calmed down a slipped back into a peaceful slumber. He stared at her, pressing his mouth into a fine line as he thought.

This wasn't fair! These nightmares, the things she'd been through, the demons of her past coming back to haunt her now. She didn't deserve any of that. He knew better than anyone what it was like to be tormented by the trauma of the past in his sleep. It was the last thing he wanted for her. But that's what was happening. And there was nothing he could do about it. He could, however, make sure these demons didn't torment her the way they had when she was a child. If any of them touched a single hair on her…

She snuggled closer to him in her sleep, lying her head on his shoulder, breaking him out of his thoughts. Looking at her now, she looked perfectly fine. Peaceful, serene, and…well, adorable. Smiling at her, he slipped his trunk around hers, still holding onto his shoulder, and looked about to see what time of day it was and what was going on around him. The sky was just now starting to turn a lighter purple, so there were still several hours left until morning. That's not what caught Manny's attention, though.

Lying near the almost dead campfire, huddled together, were three young mammoth girls. One looked to be about 14, one 20, and the youngest about 7. They had to be from Asher and Rowena's group. He'd never seen them before and, as he squinted through the dark to see them better, he could see resemblance between them and Ellie.

There was no telling what had brought them here, poor things. Sighing angrily at the list of possibilities, he leaned his head against Ellie's and tried to go back to sleep, deciding to leave the three girls alone. He closed his eyes, and tried to go back to sleep, but then he heard a gasp.

He looked up and saw that the oldest of the three girls had awoken. At the sight of him, her eyes grew wide and she jumped to her feet.

"Guys, c'mon, c'mon, we gotta go!" she shrieked, pulling the ten year old up on her feet, shaking her awake and jamming the younger one with her foot.

"Hey, calm down," Manny called to them as they shook themselves awake and began fumbling to get on their feet and out of the area. They all looked up at him, terrified. It hurt him, to see three girls so young so scared.

"You're not hurting anyone," he told them. "You're fine, go back to sleep."

"R-r-really?" the oldest girl asked.

"Yeah, you three are fine," he assured them.

"We didn't want to intrude, we just wanted to get warm. We didn't mean to fall asleep," the oldest continued.

"It's okay," Manny repeated. "You can sleep here. I don't care."

"If you want us to make it up to you in some way, we can-"

"Gosh, Joyce, he said its fine, let's sleep," the ten-year-old mumbled as she collapsed back on the ground and went straight to quiet snoring. The littlest one hesitated before following the ten-year-old's example and going back to sleep. The oldest, however, stood where she was, looking lost and confused.

"You're alright," Manny promised her. She stared at him, not sure if she should believe him or not. After a moment of awkward silence she took a few steps closer to them, her gaze no longer resting on Manny, but lying on Ellie.

"Is she really Eliza?" she asked.

Manny nodded. "She goes by Ellie now, but, yeah, this is her…"

The girl stared hard at her, looking a little teary-eyed, and curious. Her blue eyes were filled with wonder. With her closer to him, he could now tell that, of the three girls, this one looked the most like Ellie.

"I never thought I'd get to meet her…" the girls whispered.

"Did they tell you a lot about her?"

She shook her head. "Only that she died and that…if we leave the group of hold the group behind that's what will happen to us. Or me. I'm not sure if Uncle Sawyer ever told Remy or Helena that."

"They aren't your sisters?" Manny gestured to the two sleeping younger girls. The older one shook her head.

"No, they're my cousins." She pointed to Ellie. "She's my sister."

Manny turned and looked back at his sleeping mate, and back to the young girl standing in front of them. Yeah. He saw it. He could tell they were sisters.

"I never met her, obviously," the girl continued. "Just heard about her from Mom and Dad."

"Do you have any other brothers or sisters?" Manny asked, now curious.

The girl shook her head. "No. It's just us. Mom she…she's not good at having babies."

"Oh," Manny turned and looked back at Ellie. So it had been a struggle for her parents to have, and they still treated her the way they had? And now this little girl, standing in front of him, had only known her as a morality tale that was used to manipulate her into submission to a group of abusers…

"What's your name?" he asked her.

"Joyce," the girl answered. "And that's Remy," she pointed to the ten-year-old. "And that's Helena," she pointed to the youngest one. "Sure you don't mind us staying here, sir?"

"I'm sure, and my name's Manny, you don't have to call me sir."

"Okay, Mr. Manny."

He chuckled. "Nah, just Manny."

Joyce looked a little surprised, but nodded, even if a little confusedly. Manny frowned a bit. She was clearly scared of him a little, and he had a sneaky suspicion why.

"Just go to sleep, kid," he told her. "It's still late."

Joyce nodded and walked back over to her cousins.

 **IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII**

"What's going on here?!" a loud voice boom, waking up everyone in the clearing. Crash and Eddie feel from their branches in shock.

"Hey, why'd you push me?"

"Me push you? You pushed me!"

"Oh yeah, then why am I on the groun, and not in the tree?"

"Why am I on the ground and not in the tree?"

"It's not my fault you have a weak tail."

"I don't have a weak tail! It's just sensitive to certain tree saps."

"Which makes it weak!"

"Well, it doesn't help that you always blow your nose on it!"

"I don't! You do that to me!"

"Do not!"

"Why you-"

As the two rodents began wrestling with one another, everyone else turned to find Asher, Sawyer, Miles, and the elder standing in the middle of the clearing near the three young girls. Joyce quickly scrambled to her feet, shielding Remy and Helena behind her. Ellie frowned in confusion at the scene. What was going on? Who were these girls? Why-

"What are you doing here, Joyce?" Asher demanded to know.

"I…I just…I…"

"You're supposed to be at our camp!"

"I'm sorry, Dad."

Ellie gasped. Dad? This was her sister?

"Yeah, well sorry doesn't-"

Manny stood up and quickly interjected. "They got cold, so they came here because we still had a fire going."

Asher gave Manny an annoyed scowl. "Thank you for the explanation, but I wasn't talking to you."

"He said we could!" Remy pointed to Manny in defense.

"Did he, now?" Asher huffed. "Well, he's not your father, so I don't see-"

"We just wanted to get warm, we didn-" Joyce began.

"What did you say!?" Asher shouted.

Joyce flinched. "Nothing, sir."

"What have I told you about talking back to me!?"

"I'm sorry, I just-"

"You're doing it again!"

"I'm sorry," Joyce hung her head, tears forming in her blue eyes.

"Yeah, 'I'm sorry, I'm sorry,' that's all you ever say. You and your mother! Why do I even put up with your crap anymore? Huh!? Tell me why I shouldn't-"

Asher raised his trunk, only to have Manny step in between him and the girls.

"What that for?" he demanded to know from the older male. "They didn't hurt anyone!"

"This doesn't concern you, out of my way!"

"Why, so you can smack the teeth out of them?"

"That's my daughter, I'll-"

"So am I," Ellie spoke up as she joined her mate's side. "but you ain't gonna smack me around, or my sister while I'm here."

Asher glared at her, and it made her insides grow cold, but she stood firm.

"I'll deal with you later," he growled at her.

"Excuse me?" Manny asked.

"Oh, would you knock it off already! Seriously.

"You are not a part of this young man!" the elder finally spoke up from where he, Miles, and Sawyer had been watching on.

"Yeah!" Miles agreed in full fervor.

"Oh shut up grandpa and kid wonder wanna-be," Manny cried.

"Who you calling a kid?" Miles challenged, getting right into Manny unamused face. Ellie hissed, suddenly afraid for him, but he was perfectly calm.

"You," Manny answered, and pushed Miles with one swoop of his trunk.

"For goodness sakes," Asher groaned. "This is a family business-"

"I'm her mate," Manny reminded Asher, pointing to Ellie. "So guess what? That means I'm a part of this family. Whether either of us likes it or not."

"So, what? You're just going to step in and run the show, is that it?"

"Heck no! I'm already one asylum with the crew I've got, why would I want two?"

"Schould I be offended at that?" Sid piped up from where he sat in the back.

"Not now, Sid," Manny grumbled.

"Alright, I will get back to you later."

Manny rolled his eyes as he continued. "I don't want to take over anything, but I WIIL protect my mate and those three girls."

"Why would you even care about them girls?" Sawyer spoke up. "You ain't got nothing invested in them."

"Because they're innocent and I actually have a soul."

"Are you implying we-"

Manny quickly cut Sawyer off. "Yes. Yes I am."

"Well, that's not very polite, is it?" the elder asked.

"I never said I was polite," Manny stated.

"Clearly you don't know him if you're thought he ever did," Ellie snickered.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Manny asked.

"Nothing," Ellie tried to look innocent.

"Mm-hmm."

"She's saying you're a grump," Diego answered.

"Maybe," Ellie kept up her innocent face.

"Gee, thanks, babe," Manny retorted in fake anger.

"You're welcome."

She grinned as he glared with playfulness in his eyes.

"Oh, shut up, Eliza!" Miles screeched. "Haven't you caused enough trouble already!?"

"Excuse me?" Ellie narrowed her eyes.

"Yeah, you're the one who brought him into this mess and drew these girls over here."

"I was asleep. I didn't even know they were here until you came in causing a riot. Not that it matters to me-"

"Nobody asked you! Gosh!" Miles groaned. "Now will you two get out of the way and let us get to pounding these three?"

"Nope," Manny answered.

"Why not?"

"What did they do? They just wanted to get warm."

"Well, maybe they should have stopped pulling these kinds of stunts and they could get closer to our fire," Sawyer retorted.

"No…maybe if you'd stop making the same mistakes you made with me that nearly got me killed, they wouldn't have to go looking elsewhere in order to survive."

"Oh, don't be so melodramatic, they weren't going to die," Asher rolled his eyes.

"Is that what you said about me before that storm hit?" Ellie challenged. Asher glared at her.

"You didn't die," Miles pointed out.

"No thanks to you."

"Oh, what do you-"

All of the mammoths suddenly erupted into a loud argument until an ear-piercing roar filled the air. Everyone jumped and turned to see Diego, supposedly yawning. He gave a feigned look of oblivion.

"What? Did I frighten anyone?" he pointed out a digit, and extended a claw to it's full length, causing Asher and his group to jump. "Anyone?"

Everyone else in the herd snickered at his antics, but Asher and his group were not amused. Asher just glared at the tiger, who was not intimidated in the least, then turned back to the girls.

"Go back to the camp this instant." His voice was cold and intense, and caused the three young girls to slink off in fear.

Manny and Ellie watched them go in pity. Joyce looked over her shoulder back at them. No one had ever come to her defense like that before. She wasn't sure what to make of it. But she was grateful. Once she, Remy, and Helena had gone, the adults turned and face each other again.

"Better not hurt them," Manny warned.

"Or what?" Asher challenged. "You'll came and…do what exactly?"

"Yeah? What?" Miles asked. "Burn our faces? Gouge our eyes out? Take our manhoods-"

"Don't tempt me," Manny warned again, and the other four males took a slight step back. Though there was more of them, Manny was clearly taller and bigger than all of them, unlike the women of their herd they were used to pushing around.

The elder finally spoke up. "You've already stolen one of our girls, why don't you-"

"Stolen? You left her. I just had enough sense to not walk right by treasure, that's all."

Ellie blushed slightly at his comment.

"Aw, how sweet," Sawyer mocked. "Blech! Let's just go, guys, we're wasting time."

"Yeah, let's go," Miles agreed as he followed his father. The elder and Asher stayed around for a bit longer. Asher finally left after another stare down with the young couple. The elder hung back though, smiling evilly at Ellie. As he began to walk off, he made sure to walk right past her.

"He can't be your guard dog forever," he whispered in a voice low enough that only she could hear it. "Let's see what happens when you have to fight on your own."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five:

Ellie gave the stone she was moving one more good shove before it fell into place, patching up a hole in the roof of the tunnels. There were several in the section she was working on, and since she could climb well and lift heavy objects (theoretically), it fallen onto her to do the patch work. Manny did help her get the stones onto the top of the tunnel, but he had left to find more rocks since she was running low and still had a long way to go.

"Well, that's not normal," a voice called from beneath her. She looked down and saw Miles looking up at her, along with two other males about his age. She tensed slightly, and then turned and went back to her work. Of course they'd show up when she was alone!

"Aw, c'mon, 'Liza-"

"Don't call me that."

"Why not, you didn't mind when we were kids."

Ellie didn't respond, and just went back to pushing the last of the stones into another hole.

"Hey, you remember these guys?" Miles gestured to his two friends.

"More cousins?" she asked as she pushed another stone towards another hole.

"Nah, just some ol' pals of mine," Miles answered in a low voices. "They used to be sweet on you, ya know?"

Ellie cringed at the comment, but didn't let her discofort show. "Too bad, so sad, I'm already taken," she said as she shoved the stone current stone into its place.

"Ah, don't be so sensitive," Miles chuckled. "Just a harmless childhood crushes. Nothing to be scared of."

"Hmph," she slid down from the top of the tunnel and walked off to find more boulders since she'd run out.

"Can you really blame them, though? You were cute," Miles continued, his two friends chuckling creepily. Ellie shivered again and kept walking, wanting to get away from these guys as soon as possible. Miles' two friends sped up to catch up with her, one on each side. She cringed again, but looked straight ahead and tried not to let them see how she was squirming on the inside.

"She's still cute," the one on her left sates, sizing her up.

"Better than cute," the one on the right agreed. "Went and got sexy on us, didn't you 'Liza."

"Ellie," she corrected. "Now leave me alone."

"What? It's a compliment," the one on the left continued, cutting in front of her to block her path, and got in her face. "You think you're better than us now, or something? We can't talk to you?"

"I already have a mate," she explained as she tried to back away.

"So?" The one on the right asked, coming up too close to her side, brushing against her.

"Don't touch me!" she warned.

He ignored her. "Just because you've got a mate we can't tell you you're sexy?"

"Yeah, I'd rather you didn't. And quit trying to rub up against me," Ellie answered.

"We're just trying to be nice."

"Nice? Try creepy," Ellie tried to walk off again, but the one in front of her, cutting her off again.

"Creepy, huh?" he asked getting close to her face again. "So being a nice guy is creepy? Huh?"

"Getting in the face of a girl you don't know, calling her sexy and cute, and talking about having a crush on her, is. I don't know you guys!"

"Yeah, you do," the one further behind her stated. "We hung out as kids."

"I was, what, three? I don't remember!"

"Well, that's why we're here," the one in front of her said. "We're trying to remind you."

"Just let me get back to work," Ellie tried to push by him.

"C'mon, stop giving us the cold shoulder," the one in front of her cut her off again.

"Stop being a stuck up and c'mere!" the one behind her called before he grabbed her by the tail and tried to pull her back. Jumping nearly out of her skin, she whirled around and smacked him across the face. He stumbled back in shock, clutching his face.

"OW! What the crap!?"

"Don't ever touch me like that!" Ellie screamed.

Miles, from where he still stood in the back, laughed out loud.

"Whoa, chill out, chick!" the other cried grabbing her around the shoulders, trying to pull her back from his friend she was currently yelling at. She squirmed and fought, trying to get away.

"Let go of me!"

"Not 'til you calm down. Who you think you are slapping my boy like that?" He grabbed her by the fur on the top of her head and jerked her head back. "Now knock it off!"

She slammed her foot into his knee, kicking it with all the force she had. He collapsed to the ground in pain, letting go of her. She jumped away from him, and tried to walk off, but the other guy had recovered from the slap to the face and grabbed her by her leg and began shook her.

"You gonna go and slap me? Who you think you are? You can't-"

She tried to kick him in the leg, but he caught her foot and threw her to the ground.

"You think you can just slap me around like you're queen of the continent?" He shouted as he hovered over her. She pushed him away, knocking him slightly off balance and jumped back to her feet.

"If you hadn't of grabbed me-" she shouted as she tried to walk off, but he caught back up to her, cutting off in front of her, and smacked her across the face, knocking her over. The other guy recovered and joined him, Miles still laughing in the back.

"This was always your problem, you always thought you could tell us what we could and could not do," they shouted at her.

"Who you think you are?"

"If we wanna call you cute or sexy, we gonna call you that!"

"We didn't even hurt you, you-"

 _SMACK!_

Ellie balanced on her two front legs, and kicked the two guys over by slamming her back legs into them.

Miles guffawed.

"Oh my gosh-oh-oh-BA HAHAHAHA! Oh that was better than I could have imagined!"

Outraged, head, shoulder, and back still throbbing she charged towards him.

"You knew this would happen, didn't you? Why on earth did you bring those creeps arou-"

"Oh, 'Liza, you're too sensitive, seriously, they weren't hurting-"

"What do you call this!?" she pointed to the swelling that was growing on the side of her face.

"You started it," Miles shrugged.

"No, they did. I told them not to touch me or call me names!"

"So you smacked them?"

"What did you expect me to do!? Sit there and take it!?"

Miles shrugged again. "If they ain't hurting y-"

"Shut up!" she began storming off, murmuring under her breath. "Sick, immature, creepy, pervet-"

"Whatcha calling me?" Miles suddenly got into her face, eyes blaring with anger.

"You heard me," Ellie tried to keep going, but felt another smack across her face.

She stumbled back, stars flashing before her eyes.

"What you say about them is one thing, but you're not going to talk about me like that!" Miles shouted at her.

"Why not?" Ellie asked. "You're the one who brought the creeps to me and laughed while they-"

"I don't care. I'm your blood! You respect me!"

"Bull crap!" Ellie shouted back, earning another slap to the head.

"Alright, I'm sick and tired of your-"

He grabbed her by the back of her neck, shaking her and drawing her to his face to yell at her. She grabbed his ear and pulled down, trying to get him to let go of her, but Miles just shook her off. She then looked around for something that would help her, some kind of weapon.

She spotted a large tree branch lying on the ground. She reached for it, grabbed it while Miles still cursed at her, and smashed it into the side of his head, then kicked hi in the knee, causing him to collapse. Now free, she scampered back to the top of the tunnel, then slid down the other side and took off running.

Now out of the danger zone, her head began swimming. Did that really just happen?

Putting her trunk to her face, she winced at the touch. Yeah, it happened. Why? What did she do? Did she start it? Well, she told them not to touch her, and they did, in a rather inappropriate way, so what did they expect? She gently rubbed the swelling around her eye.

One thing was for sure now. They hadn't changed. They still weren't beneath abuse. In fact, they treated it like it was no big deal. Whimpering she sat down and drew here knees to her chest. She'd fought them off before they'd caused any serious damage, but now she'd ticked them off. What was next? She groaned, trying not to let her fears get to her too badly. She couldn't lose her head now. Gazing up at the sky, she could see that, outside of a few stray clouds, it looked normal.

This storm couldn't get here and gone soon enough.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six:

 **AN: Not my best chapter, but, here you go! I couldn't get it work the way I wanted it to.**

Ellie limped towards an ice glacier to see what the damage exactly was. She knew her eye was swelling shut and the pain in her shoulder continued to grow and spasm, which was why she was limping along now. Finally reaching her destination and looked at her reflection. Just as she thought, her eye was swollen, scrapes covered her side on right shoulder. Her pushed up the fur on her throbbing, limping shoulder, and found several large bruises forming black and purple splotches on her skin. She couldn't see her back, bust she was sure that there was a pulled or torn muscle, or severe bruising there.

She turned to examine her scrapes. There was still dirt and gravel stuck in the injuries, and they needed to be clean. Sighing, she walked over to a stream, but stopped when a surge of pain struck her in her stomach, causing her to bend over. Within a few minutes it had passed and she stood back up and groaned, aggravated. No telling what that was! She knelt by the stream and began spraying the water onto her scrapes. The stinging from the freezing caused her to let out a small shout of pain. She stopped to take in a few deep breaths before reaching to refill her trunk again, but heard a voice behind her.

"Hey, where'd you go?"

She turned around and saw Manny coming towards her.

"I went back and you were gone. Why'd you-" he stopped once he got closer, eyes growing wide. He rushed towards her and grabbed her chin, turning her face so he could see her swollen eye.

"What the heck happened?" he asked.

"Miles and his-" Ellie tried to stand up, but her shoulder spasmed again, causing her leg to buckle in pain. Manny caught her before she could hit the ground.

"Whoa!" he gasped as he helped her back down. "What on earth-"

"Bruised my shoulder," Ellie explained. "It's just-"

"Bruised?" Manny exclaimed. "Try dislocated!"

Ellie groaned. No wonder it hurt so bad. Go figure! Manny continued to looked her over, seeing her scrapes, eyes narrowing.

"Who did this?" he asked in a cold, chilling voice that caught Ellie off guard, leaving her speechless for a moment.

"Who did this to you?" he asked again.

"Miles and two of his friends," Ellie sighed as she began to explain. The minute she got to the whole tail pulling and rubbing up against her, he jumped to his feet and began raging.

"Oh, when I get my trunk on those twerps, I'm gonna-"

"Uh-oh, what's got you riled up?" Diego asked as he and the other four appeared from the brush. Manny didn't answer, but continued fuming under his breath.

"Yowch! What happened to Ellie'sh face?" Sid gasped.

Ellie sighed as she ran her trunk over the swollen area. "Miles and his friends."

"Well, that answers my question," Diego stated before popping his neck. "Okay, once again, are we going for maim or kill?"

"I'll get the torches!" Eddie shouted as he began to race off.

"I may have already maimed them a bit," Ellie spoke up, blushing slightly. Manny finally stopped muttering under his breath and turned back to his mate, a small glimmer of pride in his eyes.

"That so?" Crash rubbed his hands excitedly. "Do tell!"

Ellie finished telling her story. Sid applauded once she'd finished, nodding approvingly.

"Bravo. Bravo," he cheered.

"Man!" Eddie whined, crossing his arms. "And we missed it!"

"I know! That would have been awesome," Crash covered his face in his hands.

Ellie rolled her eyes, or eye, at her brothers. Manny walked back over to her, a smirk of pride on his lips as he bent down and nuzzled his face against hers.

"That's my girl," he whispered to her. "But I'm still gonna tear them apart when I get a hold of them."

"Yeah!" both possums cheered at the statement.

"And make them even madder than they already are?" Ellie asked, still afraid of what the results from her actions would be.

"I don't care if I piss them off!" Manny exclaimed. "No one's beating up on my mate and getting away with it!"

"Who you think they're gonna come after once their pissed?" Ellie asked, pointing to herself.

"No they won't," Manny declared. "Not if they want to stay in one piece."

"Do they know thatsh?" Sid asked.

"I'm going to make sure they do," Manny answered.

"And what about you?" Ellie asked. "There's more of them than there are you. Wha-" she tried to stand up again, but stumbled because of her aching shoulder. Manny caught her again and lowered her back down to the ground.

"Don't worry about me," he said rubbed his trunk over her shoulder, trying to gage the best way to fix the problem. "I've dealt with their kind before. I know how to handle them."

"And how is-OCUH!" Ellie cried as Manny popped her shoulder back in place.

"Sorry," he said as he massaged her shoulder a bit to try and relieve the pain.

She shook her head. "Don't be. I'm fine." She ran her trunk over the now declining pain of her shoulder to the still dull throbbing in her back. Manny followed her until he felt the tight muscles along her spine, and tried massaging them. Ellie relaxed a bit, though she was still terrified.

"There she is!" everyone turned to find Miles, swollen faced, leading Sawyer, Asher, the elder, and a few other young males towards them. Manny jumped to his feet. Manny jumped to his feet, and rushed to meet them, Diego close behind.

"Hey," Miles called to Ellie, who had stood to her feet, standing straight to hide her fear.

"You wanna apologize fo-"

 _SMACK!_

One swift punch to the head from Manny, and Miles collapsed to the ground.

"Hey, you can't beat my boy like-" Sawyer rushed toward Manny and tried to push him, but Manny caught him in a head lock and threw him to the ground, and punched him in the face, standing over him. Sawyer tried to get a grip on him and pull him down. Asher and the younger males charge Manny, knocking him over, but Diego jumped to his friend's defense, landing on Asher's face, scratching across his eye. As Asher ran about, trying to get Diego off him, Manny grabbed one of the younger males and slammed him against the other one, sending the two topping over each other.

Sawyer finally recovered and stood to his feet, grabbing Manny by the neck and trying to choke him out. Ellie ran to her mate's aid, slamming into Sawyer's side and knocking him over, letting go of Manny's neck. He gasped for breath, stumbling to regain balance. She ran to his side, but was pulled back by someone. Suddenly, behind her, she heard a loud, _SNAP!_ Whoever was holding her let go, and she turned and saw one of the guys who'd attacked her before lying under a log, groaning from pain. More snaps filled the air. She turned and watched several logs and tree branches falling from the trees, landing on each of the attackers.

When all of them had been hit, Crash and Eddie climbed down from the canopy.

"Did we get them all?" Crash asked.

Miles groaned as he stood back on his feet. "What-?"

Manny walked back over to him and punched him square in the face again.

"Ow! What the crap man?!"

Manny grabbed Miles by the shoulder and dragged him to his feet. "Hit me." He ordered.

"Wha-"

"You want to be the tough guy? You want to have everyone bow down to you? Hit me."

Miles just stared at him.

"If you're tough enough to smack my mate around and swell her face up, do the same thing to me."

"C'mon, boy, show him what's what," Sawyer called from where he was still curled up underneath a large branch.

Miles made a swing that Manny easily ducked it and slammed Miles to the ground, then kicked him roughly in the gut. Miles groaned in pain, coughing as he clutched his stomach.

"Hey, you can't beat up on my boy like-" Sawyer began.

"Oh, yeah?" Manny challenged. "Come and stop me!"

Sawyer just stared at him, looking a little scared. Manny grabbed him and pulled him up to his feet.

"Why don't you stop me?" he asked the older male who just stared at him.

"Go on, stop me!"

Sawyer didn't move. Manny shoved him and knocked him over. "Not even gonna try?"

He turned and eyed down everyone else. "Yeah, you're all tough and powerful when you're beating up someone smaller than you who can't or won't fend for themselves, but put you up against someone your own size."

Asher finally stood to his feet, looking absolutely furious. Manny walked over to him and got right up in his face.

"What?" he all but hissed at the older man. "What are you going to do about it?"

Asher took a small step back, but didn't flinch or give any facial expression.

Manny gave an angry but triumphant smirk. "Coward."

Asher glared at him and swung, but he ducked socked him in the neck. Asher collapsed, coughing and gasping.

"Anyone else?" Manny asked, but no one moved. "Yeah, bunch of cowards! Think you're tough because you can knock a woman around, but you can't even take half of what you dish out."

He turned back to Asher and kicked him in the head. Asher cried out in pain, clutched his face, and spat out a tooth. No one even came to his aid. Ellie just stood there, watching it all happen. She'd thought the night she told Manny about her past was the angriest she'd ever seen him, but she was clearly wrong.

Miles finally stood up to his feet while Manny had his back turned to him, facing all the others. He darted towards Ellie, grabbed her by the neck and tried to run off with her. She squirmed, fought, and screamed. Diego jumped on Miles back and sank his claws and teeth into his back. Miles screamed and let go of Ellie. Miles finally got a hold of Diego and threw aside, only to have Manny punch him in the face, knocking him to the ground again.

"Ouch, c'mon guys-"

Manny kicked him in the face, knocking two teeth out, and threw him back towards the other attackers, or rather on top of them, as they were trying to get up, but got knocked down like bowling pins by flying Miles.

They all screamed and cried in pain. As they tried to fight to get back onto their feet, Manny went back over to them and stood over them, glaring at them. They all stared back at him, waiting to see if he'd attack again, but he didn't. Ellie held her breath, waiting to see what would happen next. Finally, Manny bent down and glared at the whole group, but primarily Asher and Miles.

"Touch her again and I'll kill you."

The attackers looked themselves over. Missing teeth, blackened eyes, scrapes, bruises, pulled muscles, they all looked just as bad as Ellie, if not worse.

"Well…could have been worse," one of them mumbled.

A crack filled the air, and before anyone could move, a giant tree fell on top of them.

"Ow!"

"What did you say?"

"Couldn't get worse?"

"You've gotta be kidding me!"

Manny smirked at their pain as he walked back towards his mate, who'd motioned to the dying tree for him to kick over. She smiled as he hugged her, and then looked back at the groaning and moaning males.

Asher stood up from the jumble and glared fiery daggers at her, sending a shiver through her body. A surge of pain flew through her stomach again, but because she was already trembling from Asher's glare that Manny didn't notice.


End file.
